(By Balaseshan) Macau's casino stocks are mixed after the government tourist office data showed double-digit growth in visitors during this Chinese New Year, which is the Year of the Snake.
The Resorts & Casinos industry gained 0.13% during Wednesday's regular session. MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) added 0.15% to trade at $13.34, while Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) rose 0.06% to trade at $122.74.
Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. (NASDAQ: MPEL) gained 2.43% to trade at $21.05 while Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS) traded down 0.30% at $53.54.
The number of total visitor coming to Macau has been growing at a double-digit rate since the Lunar New Year holidays started on Sunday, according to Macau Business. On Tuesday, Macau welcomed close to 167,000 visitors, a significant growth of 28.4% from last year.
Macau welcomed almost 478,000 visitors from Sunday until Tuesday, an increase of 21.8% from last year. As the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".
The Snake is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appeared in the Chinese zodiac and related to the Chinese calendar, as well as in related East Asian zodiacal or calendrical systems.
The reason the animal signs are referred to as "zodiac" is that one's personality is said to be influenced by the animal sign(s) ruling the time of birth, together with elemental aspect of that animal sign within the 60-year cycle.
On Friday, shares of casino companies rose on news of a jump in Nevada gambling revenue and optimism about the possibility of legalized online gambling in New Jersey, according to the Associated Press.
Nevada gambling regulators said casinos in their state took in a little over 10% more in gambling revenues during December than last year. Casinos won about $943 million during the month, resulting in $39 in taxes for the state, according to the Nevada Gambling Control Board.